Should Upstate New York become its own state? That’s what one lawmaker is proposing.

WGRB reports Assemblyman Stephen Hawley (R) is asking for support from Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D) for a referendum of splitting New York into two states. The greater NYC area would be its own state, and the larger region north including cities like Buffalo, Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Ithaca, Binghamton and Utica would become a new state.

“This is an idea that has been discussed for many years, and one which is especially popular throughout upstate New York,” Hawley said. “It has become abundantly clear in recent years that the New York City voting bloc has forgotten upstate and is imposing their radical left-wing agenda on all of us, whether we like it or not. And that is deeply troubling.”

Some upstate secession groups have made similar proposals in the past, including the Americans for Restoring the Constitution, Divide New York State Caucus, Tri-County Tea Party, Upstate New York Towns Association, and We the People of New York. Momentum for the idea started building over property taxes, low sales tax revenue, the SAFE Act and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to ban hydrofracking.

The Upstate New York Towns Association previously pitched having the region or several towns leave the Empire State to become a part of Pennsylvania, while a movement in 2015 called for making Upstate New York its own state -- called “New Amsterdam” -- and Downstate would continue to be called “New York.” New Amsterdam was the original name for the New York City area settled by the Dutch before it was renamed by the English in 1664 for the Duke of York.

A map posted by NewAmsterdamNY.org defined Upstate NY as everything north of Westchester and Rockland counties, with the two proposed regions operating autonomously. The site has also proposed creating three autonomous states: New Amsterdam (the Northern Region of NY), Montauk (the Southern Region of NY) and the New York (the Empire Region).

Hawley, who represents parts of Genesee, Monroe, Niagara, and Orleans counties in Assembly District 139, is asking Heastie for legislation to be passed through committee and brought to a floor vote. He did not say what the potential 51st U.S. state would be called, but wants to begin debating the idea with other lawmakers.

“If downstate politicians really don’t need upstate, as many of them claim, then there’s no harm in at least asking the question if we should be divided,” Hawley said.